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Whale Thought To Have Gone Extinct Nearly 200 Years Ago Spotted off Coast of Massachusetts
- A gray whale, rarely seen in the Atlantic, was spotted about 30 miles south of Nantucket on March 1.
- Experts say the sighting is unusual because gray whales are typically found in the North Pacific.
- Researchers cite climate change and reduced sea ice as possible factors for the whale's Atlantic presence.
- There have been five Atlantic gray whale sightings in the last 15 years, with the latest near Nantucket or Florida.
- The New England Aquarium believes the Nantucket whale may be the same individual observed previously nearby.
- Gray whales are identifiable by blotchy coloration and a lack of a dorsal fin.
- Experts describe gray whales as long-lived migrators traveling annual routes between feeding and breeding grounds.
- The sighting adds to a pattern of Atlantic sightings amid ongoing research into whale distribution.
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